Nik Sloan's scoring for North Brunswick has given the Scorpions a lift.

I was in Leland last night as Laney visited North Brunswick for some high school hoops. The full story is here, but there were also plenty of notes and quotes that couldn’t make it into the story.

-Program building – Laney and North Brunswick’s boys programs have a lot in common. Both teams lack a true post player and both have a bevy of athletic wings who can attack off the dribble. Both like to play with speed, and both coaches have incredibly high aspirations.

The main difference right now is that North Brunswick is farther along in that path. The Scorpions made the third round of the playoffs last year and the team actually looks better this year despite losing its two best players from last seasons’ team. The reason, according to coach Bryan Hayes, is that the players are buying in:

“It takes time for guys to buy in to what you want to do,” Hayes said. “I love everyone who’s played for me, but we finally have this team believing it’s OK for us to win ballgames. We told guys last year to be the guys who initiated that.”

It’s obvious that North Brunswick is largely doing what Hayes wants them to do – the Scorpions play ludicrously fast – 32 of 71 points were in transition and every time Laney missed a shot the break was on.

There are other factors involved – Laney has much more basketball tradition and does have about twice as many students enrolled, both of which make it easier to build a powerhouse – but for the time being, North Brunswick provides a solid blueprint for what Laney would like to do.

-One of the biggest reasons North Brunswick has been able to run efficiently is senior Nik Sloan, who’s scored in double figures in every game this season. He had 18 against Laney on Tuesday. Sloan averaged 4.7 points per game last season, but he’s stepped into the scoring void North Brunswick had to start the year. So far, he’s up to 19 ppg this year.

“Nik was streaky last year,” Hayes said. “He’s grown and matured and really worked on his body and game.”

-While Sloan is pouring in buckets and North Brunswick’s borderline gale pace make the Scorpions lethal, Hayes pointed out that North Brunswick’s big men are key to that fast break.

“We’re at our best when we get a rebound and go,” Hayes said. “They battle and get a lot of boards.”

He’s right. North Brunswick doesn’t have anyone taller than 6-foot-3 on the floor, but Jaeden Phillips, Brandon Weaver, Terrence Brown and Jabril Robinson have length enough to get rebounds, especially in the chaos that North Brunswick creates. On Tuesday, North Brunswick outrebounded Laney 32 to 20.

-One bright spot for Laney was sophomore guard Kirby Kealon. Kealon, a rangy 6-foot shooting guard, plays bigger than his size and was able to score 17 points against some pretty frenetic North Brunswick defense. Kealon also hit four 3-point shots. He’s the only Laney player averaging double figure scoring so far this year with 13.6.

That also hits on the key problem for Laney – the Bucs are young. Their two leading scorers are sophomores (Kealon and Tariq Lane). Both those players are excellent, but those two guys and the rest of Laney’s rotation is having to replace a division-I player in Elijah Wilson and a high-level starter in Kenny Grady. That’s an unfair comparison. As Laney coach Nate Faulk said, the Bucs play hard and their offensive sets get different players good looks. There will be a learning curve with so many new players in new roles and a new head coach for the first time in almost three decades.

About This Blog

Hey there, I’m Alex Rileyand I’m the high school sports writer for the StarNews in Wilmington.

Before coming to North Carolina, I was covering sports for the Wyoming Tribune Eagle in Cheyenne for two-plus years. Before that, I was in Ellis County, Texas covering sports for Waxahachie Newspapers Inc. Originally I’m from Blythewood, SC and I’m a 2008 grad of the University of South Carolina.

Follow me on Twitter at @StarNewsVarsity or email me at alex.riley@starnewsonline.com.